BWW Reviews: QUEEN COAL, Crucible Studio, Sheffield, Nov 2014

As the audience enters the Studio theatre through a tunnelled entrance, you realise that there is going to be something different about Queen Coal. This one-act (albeit one long act - 90 minutes) three-hander, set in 2014, just after the death of Margaret Thatcher, is a masterclass in staging. Writer Bryony Lavery, director Rob Shaw Cameron and designer Max Jones have worked together to produce a visually stunning production in which the central action takes place on a raised stage in the middle of the Studio, lifting audience and cast away from the theatre floor (there is a good reason for this, but to say what this is would give away spoilers).

The play, performed in the round, centres on Justine (Julia Ford) returning to Yorkshire after several years away to be reunited with her estranged husband Ian (David Hounslow) and his sister Maggie (Kate Anthony), a fiery matriarch who isn't best pleased to share a name with the former Prime Minister. The characters relive the events of the 1984 miners' strike and their roles in it, whilst reflecting on the present and not only what they have become since, but what impact the strike and its legacy have had on a whole generation of working-class men and women in the region.

The stage is surrounded by sofas and armchairs for the audience members who arrived early to really emphasise the intimacy and domesticity of the piece, although those sitting in the regular theatre seating still have a close view of the production, enabling everyone to get close to the characters. The play is a funny, sad, warm and intricately observed reflection on the dynamics of family and friendships and the impact of time, ageing and losing political battles on the three protagonists. It also has plenty to say about community and place and the lasting impact of a community losing its key industry. In this way it has much in common with two crowd pleasers that have both toured in recent years: Brassed Off and The Full Monty, certainly its political stance is as popular in the people's republic of South Yorkshire as those of the aforementioned populist film adaptations. However, whilst the focus of those two productions was predominantly on the impact on men, Queen Coal is strongly about the impact on women - and not just women as housewives supporting their men, but women as political fighters.

The set design is innovative and combined with lighting (designed by Jason Taylor) and sound (Sebastian Frost) it yields many surprises and complements the way the play successfully moves beyond the domestic and intimate to the bigger picture.

The performers never let their energy drop and each has their moments of comedy, tragedy, victory and defeat. The script crackles with some excellent lines. If perhaps one or two points are laboured a bit heavily, this is a mild criticism in a show that has a lot of ambition and even more heart. Highly recommended.

Queen Coal is at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield, until 22 November

(Photo by Mark Douet)

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